The game of baseball requires several skills, one of which is hitting the ball. Baseball players spend numerous hours in batting practice to improve their skills at hitting the ball. Customarily, batting practice consists of a coach, a pitcher, or an automatic pitching machine repetitively pitching balls to a batter.
Hitting the baseball requires several important skills. One of these skills is for batters to keep their eyes focused on the ball as the ball approaches the plate. This helps the batter make contact with the ball when he swings the bat while the ball is in the hitting zone. Unfortunately, it is difficult for coaches to determine if batters are keeping their eyes on the ball as it travels toward the hitting zone.
Several devices and methods have been invented to aid pitchers in improving their skills. U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,925,273 issued to Pratt, 3,152,803 issued to Sain, and 4,991,838 issued to Groves all disclose training aids directed towards improving a pitchers ability to throw a variety of different pitches. For example, Sain U.S. Pat. No. 3,152,803 discloses a baseball having a continuous spiraling line on its surface that appears as a dot when the pitcher throws a curve ball or slider. The Sain patent teaches that the size of the dot enables the pitcher to determine the effectiveness of a curve ball or slider.
However, none of the prior art training aids are directed towards improving the ability of baseball batters to keep their eyes focused on the ball as the ball travels towards the hitting zone. There is a distinct need for a training aid to improve the skills of baseball batters.